Alexander Albon has provided an explanation as to why he suddenly lost the car early on during the Australian Grand Prix.
The Williams driver spun at Turn 6 in the opening stages of the race, marking a disappointing end to a weekend in which he showed strong potential.
Albon qualified in eighth place and was running in sixth when he lost the rear of his car and collided with the wall.
The crash resulted in a red flag, which marked the first of three that were deployed throughout the grand prix.
“I’m all fine, more disappointed and sorry for the team than anything else,” Albon said. “We had a great car, even the first few laps of the race, we were strong. I was really happy with the car, just very unfortunate.”
Albon explained that at the previous corner, he ran wide onto the kerb which raised his tyre temperatures and caused the car to slide.
“When I lost the car I was going through there slower than the lap before,” he said. “I went a little bit wider at Turn 5, went onto the kerb.
“I didn’t think too much of it, to be honest, but looking at the data briefly it spiked the tyre temperature by a little bit. With these tyres, these Pirellis, we get punished if we slide. I think that’s the cause.”
Albon was on course to continue Williams’ strong start to the 2023 season, as he picked up a point at the opening round in Bahrain.
Without the crash, Albon believes he was in a strong position to end up inside the top 10 at the chequered flag.
“It’s obviously disappointing,” he said. “Firstly it’s my mistake and apologies to the team. It’s one of those things that clearly looking at the results today and seeing where everyone is at, there was a good chance for points.
“We need to score points when we can, especially when there are opportunities to score points.
“There are a few cars out of place, out of sequence. That’s when we need to do well. Everything was looking up until my mistake. So I’m very angry with myself.”
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